Welcome to our monthly newsletter, where we update you on the work of the Initiative, inform you about events and publications, and share experiences and learning on inclusive insurance regulation and supervision across jurisdictions.
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#didyouknow #A2ii10
Expert Symposium on "Proportional Regulatory Approaches in Inclusive Insurance Markets - Capturing What we Learnt for the Future"
To distil key lessons from the experience of inclusive insurance regulation and supervision, together with the IAIS and CGAP, the A2ii organises the Expert Symposium on "Proportional Regulatory Approaches in Inclusive Insurance Markets - Capturing What we Learnt for the Future" in November 2014. The Washington Symposium, which marked a decade since the first microinsurance regulation was introduced in India in 2005, provided the opportunity to reflect upon what has worked over the years and what has not. Read more.
Recent Events
Microinsurance Network Member Meeting (JMM)
8-10 July, Luxembourg
At the annual member meeting of the Microinsurance Network the A2ii's Anke Green organised a workshop on “Design Thinking for Inclusive Insurance.”
On the panel on partnerships Hannah Grant presented the history and work of the A2ii. Following the JMM, the A2ii participated in the steering committee meeting for the International Microinsurance Conference (IMC), during which sessions for the IMC 2019 in Bangladesh were selected.
ILO Impact Insurance Academy
8 - 12 July, Turin, Italy
The Access to Insurance Initiative hosted an elective on “Regulatory and supervisory approaches to inclusive insurance: Supporting the development of responsible initiatives” at the Impact Insurance Academy from 8 to 12 July.
Thirteen representatives from insurance supervisors, insurers, development agencies and consultancies attended the A2ii’s session on supervisory approaches to inclusive insurance. The sessions explored how insurance supervisors can strike a balance between protecting consumers and regulation/supervision which encourages innovation and encourages insurance companies to serve low income consumers. Emerging international best practices were presented whilst emphasis was placed on the importance of tailoring supervisory approaches to the local context using A2ii Toolkit 1 and Toolkit 2. The importance of data gathering and analysis was highlighted. Also, time was spent discussing some of the challenges and trends confronting insurance supervisors including index insurance, mobile insurance and the use of innovation hubs and sandboxes to support insurance market development.
The Impact Insurance Academy was organised by the ILO Impact Insurance Facility and was held at the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin Italy.
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Africa 3.0 - Using Tech to Seal the Insurance Gap
15 - 16 July 2019, Nairobi, Kenya
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The A2ii took part in Africa 3.0, an InsurTech conference held in Nairobi, Kenya. Organised by Market Minds, the conference drew together participants from tech startups, inclusive insurance practitioners, regulators and development organisations. On the first day, startups from the region exchanged innovative tech-driven solutions around health, agriculture and insurance.
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On the second day, the A2ii spoke on a panel on ‘How can regulators work more creatively with the InsurTech ecosystem’. The A2ii shared the range of different tools that insurance regulators currently deploy in responding to technological innovation. The panel was moderated by Cenfri, while panellists comprised the A2ii, Bluewave Insurance and the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Kenya.
The A2ii, Cenfri and Financial Sector Deepening Africa also co-hosted a breakout session discussing regulatory barriers to innovation. Among others, a key question that emerged was on how regulators and innovators can communicate more effectively: for innovators to better navigate regulations and regulatory processes, and for regulators to better understand their business models.
A2ii – IAIS Consultation Call on Stimulating Demand: The Supervisor’s role in building Insurance Awareness
18 July
On this consultation call, we defined and explored key issues regarding building insurance awareness and the role of the supervisor, the need to stimulate demand and factors that hinder the take-up of insurance as a risk management tool, especially among the unserved and underserved population. We discussed aspects of financial education and the line between financial education, marketing, and compliance of disclosure obligations by insurers and intermediaries. Supervisors on the call were presented concrete recommendations on how to promote insurance awareness, for instance by engaging with other entities such as government ministries, aggregators that have the potential to unlock demand and collaborating with stakeholders in the public and private sector.
Andrea Camargo, the technical expert of the A2ii and director of Inspowering, delivered an introductory presentation across all the four calls. Andrea was joined by Randip Singh from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, Thomas Chang, the Deputy Director-General of Insurance Bureau of Financial Services Commission of Taiwan and Dr. Isaac Agyapong, Technical Advisor, Programme for Sustainable Economic Development (PSED), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Ghana who shared current practices and experiences from their jurisdictions in the English calls.
In the Spanish call, Carlos Francisco Izaguirre Castro, the Superintendent of Banca y Seguros de Perú (SBS, Peru) and García Schilling Daniel Ernesto, the Intendente of Comisión para el Mercado Financiero (CMF, Chile) shared experiences from their countries. Some of the key aspects highlighted during the discussion were:
- examples of insurance awareness programmes in their countries and the key success factors of such programmes,
- the entities that are involved in the delivery of insurance awareness programmes,
- collaboration with the industry to promote insurance awareness and consumer protection and,
- ensuring that public-private sector collaboration is effective as well as the tools that provide for consumer awareness of the conditions of the products they purchase and their rights.
For supervisors who couldn’t attend this call, the presentations and report is available here. Supervisors can also direct questions on this topic to consultation.call@a2ii.org, and we will ensure your questions are addressed.
Upcoming events
Capacity Building for Insurance Supervisors - Leveraging Actuarial Skills
5 - 9 August, Jakarta, Indonesia
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The Training is jointly organised by the International Actuarial Association, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the Access to Insurance Initiative and the ASEAN Insurance Training and Research Institute, hosted by OJK Indonesia and funded by the UK Department for International Development.
This is the 3rd of a new series of trainings jointly developed by the A2ii, IAIS and IAA. The first two were held earlier this year for Sub Saharan Africa and the Caribbean regions, in Mauritius and Trinidad & Tobago respectively. The training aims at strengthening the understanding and application of the actuarial concepts and tools needed to support effective insurance supervision and regulation. Read more
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5th Eastern & Southern Africa Regional Microinsurance Conference
13 - 15 August, Zanzibar
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This conference, organised by coalition of different stakeholders including the A2ii, will highlight different inclusive insurance business models that are making access to low-income market segments in Africa possible. Representatives from insurance and reinsurance companies, brokers, distribution channels, international organisations, NGOs, development-aid agencies, policymakers, regulators and supervisors in Africa are expected to attend. The A2ii is organising and moderating a panel on inclusive insurance regulation that will host several insurance supervisors from Eastern and Southern Africa as well as an industry representative.
To register to attend, or for more information on the event, please click here.
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A2ii 10-year Anniversary Conference
2 – 3 September 2019, Frankfurt, Germany
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2019 marks the 10th anniversary since the founding of the Access to Insurance Initiative. On 2 – 3 September, the A2ii will be marking 10 years of working with insurance supervisors to promote access to responsible, inclusive insurance for all with a conference in Frankfurt, Germany. The conference will bring together insurance supervisors, experts on inclusive insurance and development practitioners from around the world to reflect on developments in inclusive insurance regulation over the past decade and to discuss upcoming trends, opportunities and challenges for the future. It will be split into two parts, a high-level forum on 2 September followed by an expert symposium on 3 September. For a detailed overview of the agenda, please follow this link here.
The A2ii-10 year anniversary conference is an invitation-only event. For additional information or questions regarding the conference, please feel free to get in touch with Carolyn Barsulai (carolyn.barsulai@a2ii.org) or Anke Green (anke.green@a2ii.org)
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A2ii launches the call for applications from insurance supervisory authorities for its 2nd Inclusive Insurance Innovation Lab
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The 2nd Inclusive Insurance Innovation Lab (iii-lab) 2020-2021 is an international capacity-building programme where 4 countries' teams will work on innovative solutions to advance the development of their insurance market. The iii-lab is a unique opportunity for participants to foster change in their markets by:
- Enabling dialogue and mutual learning amongst key stakeholders of the inclusive insurance sector
- Equipping participants to take leadership within their sector and/or organisation
- Inspiring participants to take action and supporting initial implementation
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Our top 3 most read reports January - June 2019:
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